Raabta (film)
| runtime = 148 minutes | country = India | language = Hindi | budget = 32–33 crore | gross = 39.05 crore }} Raabta ( ) is an Indian Hindi-language romantic adventure film directed by Dinesh Vijan. It was co-produced by Vijan, Homi Adajania and Bhushan Kumar. The film stars Sushant Singh Rajput, Kriti Sanon and Jim Sarbh. It was released worldwide on 9 June 2017. Plot Shiv Kakkar is a young man from Amritsar who gets a lucrative opportunity to work in Budapest for a job as a banker, and leaves with his friend, Radha. Shiv is shown to have been a fun-loving womanizer back home and continues this behaviour in Budapest. Saira Singh, a young woman, is haunted by mysterious nightmares of drowning to death. She lives by herself in Budapest and works as a chocolatier. Shiv happens to stumble upon Sara's shop while on a date with a woman, but finds himself deeply attracted to Saira. Though she initially rejects his advances, she eventually succumbs and sleeps with Shiv, revealing the next day that she actually has a boyfriend and what happened with Shiv was a mistake. Unwilling to let go of their connection, Shiv interrupts Saira's date with her boyfriend Manav Mehta and shows her that she would rather be with him than with her boyfriend. Manav breaks up with her, and Shiv and Saira start spending time together, growing close. One night, they go to a club with Radha, where they happen to meet an eccentric psychic who knows about Saira's nightmares and tells her that the events of her previous life will repeat themselves, and only she can fix them. Saira tearfully reveals to Shiv that she has a fear of water because her parents drowned after a car accident when she was two years old. While trying to test their love a final time, Shiv and Saira make a pact. Shiv flirts with multiple women, but Saira finds herself strongly drawn to a young businessman Zakir "Zack" Merchant. Shiv reveals he has to leave for a business trip for a week and he and Saira decide to see how they feel after a week's separation. If they still feel strongly about each other, they will start considering marriage. During Shiv's absence, Saira gets to know Zakir better and confides in him about her nightmares. During one of their dinners, Zakir drugs Saira and kidnaps her. Saira wakes up and finds herself trapped in Zakir's isolated mansion on an island off the coast. She demands that he let her go, but he refuses, saying that he spent his whole life looking for her. He explains that they were madly in love in a previous life, but were separated. He refuses to let this happen again. When she does not believe him, he shows her a collection of uncannily accurate paintings he made of her at various ages and says she will find the explanation for her nightmares. Thinking he is crazy, she attempts to escape but ends up falling into the ocean, which triggers her memories of her previous life. Three hundred years ago, Saira was warrior princess Saiba. She had a childhood best friend Qaabir, a fellow warrior from her tribe who was in love with her. Their kingdom was threatened by the Muraakis, led by a wise, old Rajput ruler Mohak. Qaabir is severely wounded by the fierce warrior Jilaan, who gives Qaabir an ultimatum to surrender. Saiba challenges Jilaan, and they find themselves attracted to each other. Saiba accepts defeat, surrendering the kingdom to the Muraakis and herself to Jilaan. Qaabir attempts to take Saiba back, but she reveals that she and Jilaan have fallen in love. On their wedding night, a comet falls and Mohak realizes that this will be a fateful night. Qaabir ambushes Jilaan and Saiba, and murders Jilaan by wounding him and having him thrown in the ocean. Saiba jumps into the ocean to save him, but to no avail. Heartbroken on seeing Jilaan die, Saiba decides to drown too. On seeing Saiba dead, Qaabir slits his own throat, killing himself. Muwwaqqil forebodes that these events will repeat. However, this time, when Shiv shows up to get Saira back, Saira, convinced that Shiv loves her, decides to fight back against Zakir. When their previous lives' events repeat, Zakir throwing Shiv into the ocean, Shiv drags Zakir down with him and Zakir dies. Saira jumps into the water and is able to save Shiv. The film ends with Shiv humorously telling their children to not believe Saira if she tells them any far-fetched stories about reincarnation, implying that he is still oblivious to the events of their previous lives. Cast * Sushant Singh Rajput as Shiv Kakkar/Jilaan * Kriti Sanon as Saira Singh/Saiba * Jim Sarbh as Zack Merchant/Qaabir * Varun Sharma as Radha * Vikas Verma as Manav Mehta * Rajkummar Rao as Mohak *Deepika Padukone special appearance in the song "Raabta Title Track" Production The film production began in 2015 and it was set to release in 2016. But the film was delayed for a year due to casting issues. In March 2016, a new release date of 9 June 2017 was announced. The film has been majorly shot in Budapest, Hungary and India. Title song Raabta was shot at Tata Castle in Tata, Hungary. The song Sadda Move was shot at Partition Museum, Amritsar. Budget of the film is ₹59.07 Crores (₹590.7 Million). Rabta Total Worldwide Business Income|website=boxofficecollectionreport.com|language=en-US|access-date=2017-06-08}} The total number of screen count in India was 1820 and 330 overseas. Movie Total Box Office Collection, 1st Day Income Business|website=movieboxoffice-collection.com|language=en|access-date=2017-06-09}} Casting Alia Bhatt was initially considered to play the lead role opposite Sushant Singh Rajput, but turned down the role over scheduling conflicts. In December 2015, Asin was approached to play the lead role opposite Rajput but she turned down the offer because of her decision to not act post marriage. Kriti Sanon was signed on to play the lead female role in the film in February 2016. Controversy Raabta makers received a legal notice over plagiarism from Magadheera producer Allu Aravind. Raabta producers offered to show Arvind the film. They also offered to deposit an escrow amount with the court, but Arvind reportedly rejected both. A source says it was likely Arvind wanted Magadheera to be remade in Hindi, and was concerned no one would be interested after Raabta. On 8 June 2017, the courts ruled in favor of Raabta makers. Critical reception Bollywood Hungama rated it 3.5/5. The Times of India rated it 3.5/5, writing "If sparks flew more organically, it would have been easier to make a connection with this epic tale of love." Koimoi rated it 2/5, writing "Raabta is a confused film that never establishes a firm balance between its crossover love stories." Shubhra Gupta from The Indian Express rated it 1.5/5, writing "Some questions arise after Raabta has been seen, chief amongst which is one that comes up every time Bollywood tries, and fails, to do a cracking romance. Why is Bollywood incapable of pulling off a full-length film with a pair of lovers connecting, pulling apart, coming together?" India Today rated it 1/5, calling it "A comet-crossed romance which never hits the target." Critic Rajeev Masand gave the movie one out of five, stating, "This is a movie so singularly pointless, you have to wonder how the writers and the director tricked the financiers into thinking there was a story here worth telling, and why the actors preferred going to shoot every morning instead of sleeping longer hours. This is the kind of film that film critics must endure so you don’t have to. Even Denzel Washington couldn't save this film. I’m going with one out of five." Soundtrack | recorded = | venue = | studio = | genre = Feature film soundtrack | length = 30:46 | language = Hindi | label = T-Series | producer = | prev_title = | prev_year = | next_title = | next_year = | misc = }} The film's music was composed by Pritam, JAM8, Sohrabuddin and Sourav Roy while lyrics are penned by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Irshad Kamil and Kumaar. The first song of the film "Ik Vaari Aa" sung by Arijit Singh was released on 21 April 2017. The second track of the film "Raabta" (Title Track) is a remake from 2012 film Agent Vinod s "Raabta (Kehte Hain Khuda)" by Irshad Kamil, and by original makers Amitabh Bhattacharya and Pritam is sung Singh and Nikhita Gandhi and was released on 2 May 2017. The third song "Sadda Move" sung by Diljit Dosanjh and Pardeep Singh Sran and rapped by Raftaar was released on 9 May 2017. The fourth song titled "Lambiyaan Si Judaiyaan" sung by Singh, Shadab Faridi and Altamash Faridi was released on 18 May 2017. The fifth track of the film "Main Tera Boyfriend" from J Star's 2015 single "Na Na Na Na", originally written by Kumaar and composed by Sohrabuddin and Sourav Roy was recreated for this film and was released on 22 May 2017. The sixth and the last song titled "Darasal" voiced by Atif Aslam was released on 1 June 2017. Music director Pritam gave his credit to his launched band JAM8 due to creative differences with producers. He cleared that he wants to work as a solo composer by posting a status on Facebook. The soundtrack consists of 7 songs and was released on 3 June 2017. Box Office By the opening weekend, the movie collected Rs.15.93 crores nationwide. The lifetime collection of Raabta was Rs.25.67 crores nationwide. The movie made worldwide gross collection of Rs.39.05 crores. Raabta Film Collection Box Office Till Now|last=Hungama|first=Bollywood|website=Bollywood Hungama|language=en|access-date=2019-01-16}} Accolades References External links * Category:T-Series films Category:2017 films Category:Indian films Category:2010s Hindi-language films Category:Films involved in plagiarism controversies Category:Films shot in Hungary Category:Films set in Croatia Category:Films featuring an item number Category:Films set in a fictional Asian country Category:Indian romance films Category:Films about reincarnation